Widmerpool views

Widmerpool

Some pictures of the Widmerpool Station area over the years.

Click on the picture for a bigger image - all pictures are the author's unless otherwise credited

	Widmerpool station looking south from the road bridge around 1945. Note the wagons in the yard, the gas lamps on the platforms, the nameboard under the eaves, the LMS notice boards with adverts of far away places and the station clock showing 1.20 p.m. White paint is still evident on the corners of the building, probably from the blackout days of the war. Stations UK		A slightly different view of Widmerpool station looking south on Sunday 31st July 1955. Note the absence of any traffic in the yard. Usually there would be a number of coaches stored in the sidings and loops awaiting summer excursion trains but presumably they were being used on this day Unknown
	This is the weighbridge building at the rear of the station as it was in 1961. It has since been demolished but the telegraph pole, which can be seen in the 1945 photo at the top of the page, was still there in 2000. Unknown		These are the Up side station buildings as they were in 1961. All the station fittings had been removed by this time 12 years after closure. Unknown
	The Down side waiting room at Widmerpool photographed in the summer of 1999. Although the building has been used in the past as a laboratory it is virtually as-built MR with a tiled floor, original doors (behind the blue hardboard) and an original roof.		The white-painted former Up platform building at Widmerpool is now the 'Pullman Inn'. Its outward appearance bears little resemblance to the original Midland Railway architecture. The fencing is new but the platform face is original. The site of the cattle dock and end-loading bay can be made out on the site (not on the photo), as can the foundations of the old weighbridge office at the rear of the present car park.
	By September 2000 the forthcoming upgrade was beginning to take shape. The original overhead wires have been removed in this view from the road overbridge and plant & machinery has moved in by the goods shed.		By May 2001 the goods shed had gone and the double track was in place, awaiting the wires. Paul Frost (Parsons Brinkerhoff)
	A view in June 2001 from the road overbridge shows the new railway awaiting the final overhead wiring on the Up line.		By July 2001 the wiring for both lines was in place. Paul Frost (Parsons Brinkerhoff)
	A different viewpoint in June 2001 shows the removal of the Down platform but the retention of the building. Note that only the right hand former Down line is electrified at this time. Anyone buying a pint in the Pullman Inn would have a grandstand view of any passing test trains		Looking North from the road overbridge sees the double track disappearing towards the southern portal of Stanton Tunnel. One of the original overbridges on this stretch was removed for the upgrade.
	A mile or so down the line looking back towards Widmerpool Station in May 2001 during the upgrade. Paul Frost (Parsons Brinkerhoff)		A close up view of the bridge above, looking north with the masts in place. Note the newly-raised portion in the centre of the parapet. Paul Frost (Parsons Brinkerhoff)
	Further up the line towards Folly Hall, the A46 road bridge is seen in the summer of 1999. The overhead structures for the scaled equipment can be seen on the bridge. As part of the upgrade these are now replaced with the real thing, but the portal frame has been retained and the view remains the same.		A view looking north from MP 115 in the summer of 1999. The goods shed on the right was still in existence at this date but has now been demolished and the line is double track again.

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